Moments with the Champions
by BlackCoat13
Summary: A quick one shot that might become a mini series with moments of everyone's favorite Legendary commissioned champions of the Elements. Please note, this story won't make any sense if you read if without reading my other story, Agent of Entei.


**Moments with the Champions **

**By: The Thirteenth incarnation of the BlackCoat**

**My characters are mine. The Pokémon and show/games, however still elude my grasp.**

**I write this for you to enjoy while I am gone. I will not be back for at least two weeks, and I shall do my best to write while I am gone, though I doubt I will be able to upload. **

Bernice knew all the groups had 'titles' assigned to them, just as each individual champion had some sort of title as well, but that one was subject to change. Their title, belonging to group one was: The Strongest. Really. That was it. The legendaries weren't the greatest with names. Bernice however, as she eyed the three males around her, wouldn't have batted an eyelash if their title had been: The Insane. Sure, that would have made her the odd one out, but she was pretty strange in her own way, she imagined. But nothing as bad as the other three!

Vidar, as he had named himself, was made by Arceus in seven days. He was as such, childish. Sure, he had vast archives of knowledge from Arceus, but they were woefully inadequate. He couldn't tell you anything about city life. Not that he could tell you anything of course. He was mute, and though he knew sign language, the only one here with a firm grasp of it was Manson. Her own sign language was from Sinnoh and though she was excellent at that, Vidar only knew Kantonese sign language. She was pretty shaky at that one. Vidar, even though he could communicate through other means, chose just as often to not express himself at all, choosing to look on with that big babyish smile on his face. That's what he was. A big, overgrown childish baby. At least he was polite and always happy. She'd never seen Vidar be anything but happy. And the way he dressed! The only clothes he had were cowboy stuff from bad movies! Pink wool poncho's, shiny leather pants, braided shirts! His fashion sense was an absolute disaster. But from what she could tell, this is what Arceus picked out for him, and Vidar wouldn't change it because Daddy was perfect and Daddy knew everything. So he wore those trashy getups that made him look like a wannabe action hero. The only authentic cowboy things he had were the hat and boots, complete with spurs.

Manson was the only one out of those three who should have been normal. He was a Sheldrake, one of the richest families on the planet. But he was a Sheldrake, which meant deeply rooted into his system, in some form or another, something was wrong with him mentally. Just plain wrong. Having met Julia, Manson's little sister, Bernice could conclude the legend of the Sheldrake madness to be both real _and_ potent. Julia was almost always mad, and very bipolar. Manson on the other hand, was a compass that could not tell which way was north. He rose with the night like a vampire, was so pale he should catch fire on contact with the light, wore nothing but black, was so thin she felt like any day now he would lean forward and crack in the middle, was gleeful at death and carnage and all things dark, and laughed, literally laughed at intense pain. Manson worked with ghost types, and though he had recently become the champion to Giratina (through death and rebirth as a phantom wraith) he had actually not joined their merry little band of lunatics as a champion himself. He had invited himself along and the other legendaries told them to make sure they didn't lose him. And that was a chore. She swore Manson could teleport the moment they weren't looking even before his death.

Kendal Pendragon, as he called himself was an uncivilized, brutish, _animal_! He had grown up all alone in Meteor Falls in Hoenn, watching over a vast treasure trove of dragon eggs. His education had come from the two Mirage duo dragons, Latios and Latias. His dreams were to have one of every dragon, become the Pendragon (whatever that was) and to one day show the world the power of dragons. He named all of his dragons after dragons in stories that the two Mirage Pokémon had spoon fed him as bedtime stories. He was enamored with dragons. He was also destined to be the leader of all the champions one day. But as he had been raised by dragons, and was their champion, he was more draconic that human himself. He could smell like a blood hound. His skin was _scaled_, for Pete's sake! His teeth were all triangular and shark like, his eyes were vertical slits. His skin was rough and course, his rugged feature-. Bernice stopped herself before she began to blush.

Taking a moment to have a deep breath, she glanced at the three around her to make sure they hadn't noticed anything. Vidar was on the edge of the barge, looking out over the water happily, gazing lovingly at the sea. Manson was flat out gone. But Kendle, sitting across from her was staring at her intensely. Bernice took a moment to stare back before asking "What is it?", a question she regretted as soon as she close her mouth.

Kendal gave a quick snort, like he was trying to shoot smoke from his nostrils (he'd done it before) before he spoke up. "For a moment there, you're cheeks turned red and your hormones spiked. The smell was… bothersome. I'm just curious, what does that mean?" Kendal asked. Bernice turned beet red and quickly grasped for an answer, any answer that wasn't the truth.

"I was mad. Humans get red when they're mad," Bernice told him. It was true, it just wasn't the full truth.

"But you didn't smell mad, and you're body language didn't act mad," Kendal countered.

"Well, I was mad," Bernice repeated huffily. A smile broke across Kendal's face for a moment as he observed her little spat. She never really got mad either. She was too cold, too 'cool' for being mad. Her cold temperature body didn't let her be hotheaded or rash. If she said she was mad, then she was lying. Enjoying their little game now, and still curious as to the answer to his first question, Kendal leaned forwards and put his hand up to his mouth and grinned at her.

"You're still lying, little snowball," he told her in a sing-song voice. Bernice looked affronted and her eyes shifted wildly as she searched for answers. Somewhere inside, Kendal was a little sad she wouldn't just tell him, feeling like a kicked hatchling.

"I was mad because… I was thinking about my sister!" Bernice announced. Kendal frowned suddenly and a growl rumbled in his throat. Bernice was always mad about her sister. It was the one thing she could honestly be mad about. But Bernice would never tell them why she hated her sister, but if his little snowball was mad at something, that was reason enough for Kendal Roy Pendragon to be mad at it as well. Talks with Manson had taught Kendal that Bernice came from a prestigious regal clan overseas in the cold land of Sinnoh. Just thinking about it gave Kendal shivers. Sinnoh was no place for dragons. At least the caves were warm enough for the Gible and Gabite. But as it was, Bernice was the younger of the two sisters of the brood. And because her elder sister, Candice, inherited the gym Bernice loved and had spent more time with and at, her home, Bernice was mad at Candice. At least, that's what Manson said. And if Manson said something, he was always hiding something else, and his words could often have a second meaning in a larger sense.

Across from Bernice Kendal frowned and plumed a small tongue of blue dragon fire from his mouth, probably not even realizing it. Had she somehow made him mad? She didn't want him to be mad. A moment later Kendal grinned again and gave a small chuckle. "Now I get to ask again, what?" Bernice asked huffily as Kendal grinned at her.

"I was thinking about why you would be mad, and then I thought of Manson," he explained. Oh. That made sense, Manson did always drive her up the wall. Why hadn't she thought of that? Except then if she said it was because of Manson Kendal would have ripped through the ship until he had found and crushed the thin wraith under heel. Bernice sighed and leant back. Why couldn't they be normal? Ah well, in the long run, it was probably more fun this way. Bernice stared up into the sky, and no one could see her smile.

And by the railing, Vidar smiled happily. Those two were made for each other.

It was as they were getting off the barge Manson showed himself. And promptly got himself into trouble. As Bernice and the two walked down the gangplank onto the dock, Manson appeared, coattails flapping wildly in the wind, standing on top the railing. He grinned, crouched down, waited until his body started to fall forward, and then kicked off like a spring, one hand on his black fedora to keep in on his head, and other arm thrown out to make his coat fly behind him. He soared from the boat towards the dock. And smashed face first into the side of the concrete dock before falling off the curb and into the ocean. A second or two later of collective shock, a member of the ship's crew jumped overboard to rescue him, and another threw down a ring float for the first to put him on. The three champions on the shore however, just stood and stared at where Manson had jumped from. Finally it was Bernice who muttered, "Let's just go," before grabbing the other two by the hands and dragging them away from there. They wouldn't find Manson, no matter how hard they tried. He'd have teleported away the moment he hit the water, conscious or not. His little stunt had already ruined her hopes of getting somewhere and being completely normal.

They found him half a mile from the docks, by the forest near the Pokémon center, lying on the grass, sleeping, and totally drenched. Bernice stomped on his stomach to wake him up, only for her foot to pass straight through his ethereal form. Shouting in frustration Bernice shuffled through her I.S. until she found her bullhorn and kneeled down to blast Manson's ear. A moment before she could let it rip however, Manson's hand shot out and stole the small can away from her before he smiled at her, one eye open under his hat. She could've cried in frustration, but she knew that would only make him laugh. Kendal and Vidar looked on, one confused and the other happy. "I'm up, I'm up. Jeez, you're worse than my little sister!" Manson told her as he got to his feet, stretching. Black mist fell from his worn trench coat.

"You could've been seriously injured! You could've died!" Bernice growled out at him. Manson smiled back at her happily.

"Wouldn't that have been hoot! The look on your faces if I died! Hah!" Manson laughed out giddily as he considered it. It was at this point that Kendal stepped in.

"Manson, control yourself. No one here would be happy about your death. We were grieving for weeks when you died and became Giratina's champion!" Kendal growled out, using his 'authoritative dragon voice'. Manson's smile slipped off his face and he looked angrily at Kendal.

"Settle down dragon boy. Snowflake, reel in your attack reptile," Manson told Bernice and Kendal in angry whisper, his ghostly powers slipping into his voice. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. Bernice screamed in rage and stormed off into the Pokémon center. Kendal rushed Manson, only to charge straight through him and hit a tree on the other side.

"Will you ever, not fall for that one?" Manson asked satirically.

It was to everyone's surprise where the punch came from. Vidar had taken a large step forward and slugged Manson in the jaw. Manson, knocked on his ass, sat and stared up and Vidar in shock. Vidar smiled back down at him happily. Kendal was glancing between the two. Finally Manson asked, "How'd you do that! I wasn't solid! That's not how it works! Ghost doesn't affect Normal, Normal doesn't affect ghost!" he asked aloud in wonder and suspicion.

"It would appear to Vidar you're just as solid as you used to be." Kendal announced as he pulled the (now solid) dark teen to his feet and brushed off his front.

"The things you learn," Manson groaned as he rolled his shoulders and rubbed his jaw. That was going to bruise. "You're not the type I would suspect to have a good right hook on," Manson admitted to Vidar as he pocked his neck repeatedly. Vidar shrugged, smile firmly affixed on his face.

"You're just weak. Here, Vidar, hit me as hard as you can!" Kendal boasted as he sucked in breath. Vidar shrugged and pulled his fist back before firmly slugging Kendal in the chest, knocking him down too. Kendal took a moment to suck the air back into his lungs after he was done letting loose a small whimper before getting up again.

"Hah! I only sat down, you were thrown all the way on your back!" Manson mocked giddily as Kendal got shakily to his feet.

"That was just a fluke, or he didn't hit you as hard as he hit me. Vidar, hit me again!" Kendal ordered, draconic pride at stake. Vidar shrugged, glanced at Manson to as if to check if it were okay, and slugged Kendal in the chest again. This time Kendal only was forced to crouch as he tried desperately to fill his lungs.

"Hah, didn't fall! Take that, dead boy!" Kendal groaned out as he looked at Vidar's boots.

"No way! Hit me again!" Manson cried.

In the window on the second floor of the Pokémon center, Bernice stared down at the three and muttered only one thing as she stared out the window at the scene. "Boys!"

Manson's strangeness knew no bounds, as it turned out. He had been merrily walking in front of them, whistling as he went, his newly evolved Duskclops, Theo walking along beside him with the other three trailing behind. Manson had glanced to his left, looked back forward again, and then looked back to his left as if to check something behind the tree he was passing before both he and his ghost dived behind the tree. The three other champions, walking behind him glanced at each other and then ran to catch up to their ghostly member. They found him and his ghost on their knees, looking up with hands in front of their faces clasped together, pleading with the random stranger they were assaulting.

"Please oh wise one, reveal to me some of your wisdom!" Manson cried to the hobo, his ghost making mimicked noise beside him. The other three glanced back at each other at the spectacle and Vidar rolled his sleeves up, prepared to drag Manson away kicking before, to their surprise, the old hobo smiled (he was missing some teeth) and answered in the most Indian voice they had ever heard, "Of course young wanderer. Allow me to teach you some of my knowledge!"

The old hobo sat and crossed his legs, Indian style as the group stood in front of him. Manson and Theo quickly copied him, putting their feet on their knees as they sat cross-legged as well, looks of patience and respect on their faces. A moment later Vidar sat down beside them, a smile on his face and awe in his eyes as he too sat cross legged next to Manson. Bernice slapped her face. Kendal dearly wished to go sit too, but his draconic pride would not allow him to lower himself to the level of some stranger. That wouldn't stop him from listening and taking the knowledge to hear though, even if he didn't ask any questions.

The Indian man, tanned with years on the road, missing some teeth yet with the whitest smile any of them had ever seen, took a moment to rub his chin in thought before he began. "Always listen to nature. She is your mother, and her teachings were once all that kept your ancestors alive. But at the same time, embrace technology, for it is the future." The old man told them. Vidar and Manson nodded wisely, eyes shining with admiration. Bernice considered hitting her head against a tree. Kendal looked as though he had just had an epiphany. "Do not fear the dark. The dark is just the opposite of the light. The dark hides its own kingdom of life and love, just as the light is warm and kind. The dark is a nurturing mother, just as the sun is, but both can be harsh. In the desert, the sun will dry you out and mummify you, but the dark can crush you in a cave, make you lost in a forest, or even have you attacked by animals. A world of only darkness could not sustain life, but a world of only light would charbroil the planet. Remember, both are good, both are bad, and both are needed. Humans normally fear the dark because that is when things that can kill us go hunting, like tigers or panthers. But they can hunt in the day as well. In fact, the most dangerous creatures care not if it is night or day, and walk both paths as they prowl for food. So do not dear the dark, it is just like the light." The old man told them with a smile. Manson looked like he might cry. Vidar's smile was wider than it ever had been before Kendal looked intrigued. Bernice stood for a moment and considered this before understanding the wisdom behind this. The old man took a moment to consider his next piece before a smile lit his lips. "Chaos is not bad. Chaos can be fun, like pranks and playing tag! And order can be dangerous. Imagine a world where there is no individuality. Everyone is assigned one job, and when they can no longer perform, they are replaced and the system removed them. In this world, there is no art; there are no names, only numbers and time tables. Order can be like that, that is order in its most prime form. Order is clockwork, with no room for life. Chaos, however, can be bad as well. Wars are chaos, a lack of harmony. Both can be good, both can be bad. Art is a form of chaos. Free will is a form of chaos. Life, is a form of chaos. Love is a form of chaos. Humans and other animals like the Pokémon were born from the primordial chaos of the world, thousands of years ago when the surface of the world was wrapped in chaos. Storms filled the sky, volcanoes erupted every ten minutes or so, the oceans swelled and eddied in huge tsunamis, and the tectonic plates shifted as they please. That was chaos, and we were born from it. Harmony, is the ability to accept everything as it is, to reject nothing and accept everything. A balance of chaos and order. One can only be happy if they have harmony." The old man told them sagely.

"But, I don't understand!" Bernice cried out suddenly, surprising them all, including her. Bernice, realizing she had spoken aloud, continued on now, "How can chaos be good! How is love chaos!" she cried, confused and a little scared. The old man merely smiled.

"Chaos can be what makes life worth living. All things fun are chaotic. When you were little, did you play outside in nature? Nature is chaotic, and order only exists as the food chain. Did you imagine a world where one day you would fight valiantly against monsters and play with sticks? Maybe rescue someone from a tower? Art is chaos, for in that world of order that is clockwork, art is a meaningless distraction from the grand scheme of things. Children do not play, they sit in school, and only leave to sleep until they too are old enough to work in the factory and the pharmacies that keep the people docile. Chaos is life because our lives are not predestined down to the last detail. If they were, there would be no free will. You could not choose if you wanted to become a Pokémon trainer or a hero, it would be chosen for you. As for love, love is chaos too. Do you choose who you love? No, it strikes you as suddenly as cupid's arrow. Love can be between two people who have known each other for a long time, creeping up on them. It can be spur of the moment. It can be sudden! Order would choose who you 'love' and that would be the end of it. Do you see? Chaos and order are both needed, but you must have balance." The old man explained to Bernice. Bernice considered it. Had she chosen love, or had it found her?

The old man took a deep breath and thought for another moment. His eyes lit up and he handed Manson and Vidar banana's from inside his ragged cloak. The banana's were fresh and clean, and looked remarkably edible. The old one pulled out another one for himself, and after peeling it, ate it in large bites. Manson and Vidar copied eagerly. "Banana's are an excellent source of potassium!" the old man cried. Both Vidar and Manson nodded sagely.

"Moss grows heaviest on the north side of trees. Winter is when the planet is furthest from the sun, because earth does not have a perfectly round orbit around the sun, but rather an oblong one. Summer is when we are closest. The sun is not a planet, but a star. Stars can be cold, the coldest star ever found being only about 70 degrees and as small as Pluto. Knowledge differs from Wisdom because wisdom knows what to do with knowledge. For example, knowledge knows the tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. People flock to a shining personality. In the long run, sometimes reason and compromise is not enough, and wars must be fought, even if you do not support them. A life is the most precious thing, and the act of snuffing one out is one of the most depraved things imaginable, but sometimes that too is needed. You can never prosecute someone for something they might do, and trying only drives them to do it in the first place. You cannot live in the past, you must look towards the future! Every day is a gift, that is why it is called the present. Do NOT live everyday like it is your last or you will end up broke and very drunk. Instead, plan for the future, secure your position in the world. Do not lose your innocence until you can handle the world. Toast is better with butter side up! Do not eat the brightly colored mushrooms, they are poisonous. The darker colored ones are usually safer and you can tell so because they have evolved camouflage specifically to hide, indicating they do not have poison. A kind word is twice as effective in most situations as a mean one, but sometimes meanness is needed, like light and dark. Eat bitter, taste sweet. Sometimes, there are such things as a free lunch, but you must recognize them. No matter what turn your life takes, you are stronger for it. Even dark magic is just a tool for purposes of the wielder. As such, even light magic could potentially be used for evil. If you are going to do something, you might as well commit fully to it. Something as simple as smiling can brighten the world for everyone who meets you!" the old man told them all sagely.

Vidar was awestruck. Bernice stared in shock. Kendal was inscribing these words of wisdom into his mind. Manson was hastily scribbling on a little yellow notebook as many things as he could. "Please, your name!" Kendal called out as the man stood.

He flashed them that grin again and announced, "I am King Midas."

The old man nodded, handed Kendal a banana, folded Bernice's hands around a commercial perfect orange, and slipped back into the forest behind him. "Did that just happen?" Bernice asked as she came to her senses and stared at the orange, trying to confirm its existence. "Think he was a legendry?" Kendal asked her. Both Vidar and Manson shook their heads. "If he was a legendary, I'm a pixie. But he definitely wasn't of this dimension." Manson told them as he continued scribbling in his book. "He left his bag!" Bernice cried, spying the large duffel bag that had been sitting behind the 'hobo'. Vidar opened it up and emptied it out slowly. Inside were the strangest assortments of fruits they had ever seen, ranging from dates to dragon-fruit. There was also a strange metal cube with arcane symbols on the side that Manson immediately called a Lexicon and swept up into his cloak. There were also three lumps of coal, a match box, a bowling ball, and a bouquet of flowers.

"Put everything back in and leave it there. Maybe he'll come back for it." Bernice announced.

"No. He's gone. As simply gone as if he turned into air. Probably left this dimension. If he was still on earth, I could find him, but he's not." Manson told her as he picked up the bowling ball and examined its pitch black surface before sticking his fingers in the holes and rolling it down the road.

Group two wasn't as strange as group one. In fact, while Group Two of the Conquerors were all pretty odd individuals, they were all perfectly sane and could blend in with the populace. But they were still strange. They had an always mad Sheldrake, a suspicious and wary witch, and her time displaced psychic deranged brother who held conversations with himself aloud, an army kid who thought he was a drill sergeant, and a solo 'cool' kid who wanted nothing more than to get into the air and fly away. And every single one of them hated each other. Julia and Mindy got along like two badgers in a bag. They were always at each other's throats. Ace and Clay were actively trying to seriously injure the other, and both were as different as north and south. And Blake was as shady as could be, and always knew everything he shouldn't except for when to keep his mouth shut. Not even Mindy liked him. They didn't master teamwork until _after_ they had gotten to Kanto, shortly before the creation of group three. The first time they all met together, in front of the Sheldrake manor, sparks flew.

Julia Sheldrake, the electric girl, champion of Raikou, could shock a person silly with little more than a touch. She was angry like it was going out of style, able to find flaw in everybody. It was her Sheldrake madness, as the others could attest. Julia could absorb electricity, use electricity, and if there was a storm, she could up her ante to throwing lightning bolts like Zeus. Julia was protective of her family too, to an absolute extreme, like a mother tiger. It didn't help that Manson had left her and their parents, which had driven both the females in their family mad with worry. She was the one who looked out for her perfect angel little brother Jack, and looked after her mother who was recovering from child birth. And now she was out here, on the road with a bunch of strangers, working in the name of the legendaries on gods knows what, just because she was a Sheldrake and it was her 'destiny' or some such nonsense. And they might recruit Jack or Belle while she was away!

Mindy Trinity had taken a life of abuse, fear, and intimidation to keep her little brother safe. She had seen her mother die, and nearly died herself to keep her little brother safe. She had sold her sold to Darkrai to keep her little brother safe. And yet, here was this facsimile ghoul, wearing her brother's face, with his memories, with his personality, standing beside her and calling her 'Sister'. And she couldn't tell if it was a sick joke or he was real. All she knew is this was not what she traded her allegiances for. She had escaped her life of terror with her brother and lived in the reverse world for years, aging at an advanced speed, trading years of their lives for their safety. She had left behind her little home in Lavender Town with her loving mother. She had strode into the darkness with purpose. And now here she was, once again with the short stick. She was always giving, her life, her soul, her sanity, her future. And here around her were people who thought she was like them and they were like her. They didn't know anything. She had been afraid of Pokémon. Still was, really. Her family hadn't had any, and her father had a deep loathing of them. Her mother too, had been scared of them. She had taken up the mantle of Pokémon trainer, and now she dealt with the darkest, most dangerous Pokémon alive. And she could hear their dark thoughts. All of them, human, Pokémon alike. She could hear any thought they had about her. She could hear everything about her. So she sat, she waited in the darkness. It was not scary anymore, and though she hated it, at least it didn't burn her like the light did. Should they really piss her off, she could subject them to their worst nightmares. She could take their fears and wear them like a mask. And when she was done she could fade into the darkness and if she was accused she could lie. She could be _so_ convincing. It was all a game to the legendaries, and they didn't play by rules. So she wouldn't either.

Clay Wall didn't like the group presented to him. They were all weak, full of themselves wannabe's. They wouldn't have lasted a minute in his father's squad. But even great men start somewhere, as his grandfather would've said. He would whip them into shape whether they wanted it or not. When he was done with them they could run a marathon with their eyes closed! All it ever took was a little effort and elbow grease. None of them but him had any meat on their bones either. He'd have to make sure they ate right as well as trained right. He'd have to oversee their lives to make them worthy of serving the legendaries like him! The creepy girl in the corner would have to quit hiding and come out to play! That angry girl Julia had drive, but she lacked focus! He'd just have to give it to her! A cross continent trek? He could run this entire continent in a month! The Pokémon here were all weak and stupid! Nothing like Kanto, where even one false step around even the cutest critter could get you poisoned or paralyzed for life! None of these islanders had any survival sense! He'd have to drive that into them too. That kid with the scarf and aviator's cap got on his nerves. He didn't have an ounce of respect in his entire body! Clay'd beat it into him if he had to force feed the kid canned spam! The last kid, the wimpy psychic! How could he ever hope to be a good psychic if he was scrawnier than a string bean! A healthy mind needs a healthy body! He'd have to whip all them into shape, and he had just the training course for it, designed by his own father! Clay softened for a moment as he remembered his dad. He'd been in the hospital for only a week before he'd passed, the lung cancer finally killing him after his twenty year battle with the stuff. He'd never let it hospitalize him before, even if he was coughing up blood. His father, Brick, had made sure to drill into Clay's mind to never smoke like he had, and to keep his body the pantheon of health that it deserved to be, just like he had! When he finally died, the military generals had lined the hospital halls, and he had had the biggest military funereal of the century. Everyone had been in attendance, from Lt. Surge to the champion himself, Lance, to the Proff. Oak's, Sammy Oak the elder and his grandson Blue Oak. And he'd given him full access and permission to the family weapons and monetary supplies. As the only current member of the Wall family, he had a lot riding on his shoulders. But right now, he just had to make sure these weakling maggots would live to see another day.

Ace's first instinct was one of abject terror when Ho-oh had told him he was going to need to work with other people. Ace hadn't had any human contact in eight years by that point. He barely spoke any language recognizable by humans! So Lugia had gotten to work and the birds had taught him everything he needed to know. When he had first crossed the ocean on the back of Lugia, he had thought this might be a small thing, like the coast line of Hoenn on the horizon. But, just like the coastline, his understanding of his mission grew. He was going to need to meet people. He hated people. All of them. He hated his parents. He hated random strangers. He hated people he'd never met before. There were only two humans in his entire head that were worth the air they breathed. Himself, and his grandfather. His grandfather, whom had never said a bad thing about anyone in his entire life. His grandfather, whom had played with him until he was tired and fell asleep, despite his bad back and arthritis. His grandfather whom had fought in the war as a pilot when he had been drafted. His grandfather, whom had saved seventy three, lives by choosing to give his own in his old age during an apartment fire. His grandfather, who had given him his fighter pilot hat and his red scarf. Nobody could ever touch his grandfather. Ace's only right to the air he breathed was that he was the only person to recognize his grandfather's worth. His gramps was like the tree, in that story called the giving tree. As to why he hated humans? They were wrecking the natural world! They were killing Pokémon and enslaving them to battle for their amusement! Pokémon training was a sport, sanctioned by the government! Humans were always trying to catch him, to snare him in traps, who were trying to 'rescue' him from his life of freedom in Viridian forest. Humans were scum. And now he needed to work four of them to serve the legendaries, who had given him his life and his purpose? He would do it, for them. He might be reluctant; he might be the only one who saw the truth like he did, he might even be the only one who liked the legendaries, but he would do it. He was but a hatchling and now was the time to fly the nest. Get out, stretch his wings. Metaphorically. He didn't really have wings of course. But he could fly regardless. He could stand on air, and it would lift him, like standing on a block of ice on the ocean. He could run all the way up to space, if he had the energy to do so, as Lugia had explained to him. He'd never got that far anyways. He couldn't get much higher than a mile. But his birds could. He liked his birds. They weren't caught, like trainers catch birds. They came to him, willing to be his friends. He fed them, took care of them, made sure they were healthy. They weren't his pets, they were his equals.

Blake's head was not his own. His mind, a mixed algorithm of past that did not belong to him, and the orders and observations of the Encroaching Darkness did not allow free will or structured thought. His psychic powers acted under the influence of his own mental darkness, his fractured semblance of a soul tortured into defeat. He was Blake. No he wasn't, he was a pawn of an omnipotent trans-dimensional world eater that fed off chaos and order equally. A harmonious destroyer? No. He had glimpsed the world it left behind, and ordered world of dark smog where time stood still. He was free. No he wasn't, everything he saw or heard was transmitted back to the main cloud. He was a Pokémon trainer. No he wasn't, his Pokémon Seer was too a thrall to the Encroaching darkness. Lancelot, Gwendolyn and Bellatrix had no clue as to what he was. They were natural, totally of this world. Midas, his Slowking knew what he was though. He was not of this world, but somehow he was also not of that world of the Encroaching Darkness. He wasn't sure as to where or who Midas was, only that Midas was trying to break him free of the power of the Encroaching Darkness. He was failing of course, so much so that the ED didn't even see fit to stop him. His two other Pokémon, Artemis and Apollo were mindless slaves to his will, shells of what used to be Pokémon but were now his thralls and conduits of ED. And to think, as the legendaries gave orders he was there to hear them all! He was in the perfect position. He owed his life and existence to ED. Before he had been turned into the replica of Blake and observed a large portion of his time/space potential energy he had been an inter-dimensional leech creature, a insect no larger than his fist that ate any spare dimensional energies he could come across. He was ED's to command. If only Blake's remnant memories and 'residual mind' would stop bothering him!

Group two hit the first gym leader of Heonn with the force of a hurricane. People who knew Roxanne quickly coined that day as the-day-you-must-not-mention. Roxanne herself has repressed that day in her memories, and does not remember it until someone brings it up.

And it began like this.

The two sliding glass doors blew open as the electric bolt shot through them, a large stocky built teenager holding back lightning with his bare hands as he slid through the doors backwards, breaking them. Roxanne was so shocked she dropped her book on the ground and stared, trying to comprehend what exactly was happening. Outside, the storm was raging during the middle of the day. The black clouds rumbled lightning, flashes shooting through the sky. Outside it was dark as night. Roxanne hadn't heard the storm approach, as she had been reading her book. In truth though, the storm had both started and generated inside the city limits and was silent until now. The epicenter of the clouds n the sky swirled around one point, funneling straight down to surround Jesse with electric glory. And Jesse was directing all of that at Clay, the source of her rage. Beside her Ace looked up at the sky, rather concerned for his own safety as the heavens showed electric wrath through the clouds. Mindy was hidden around somewhere, the darkness hiding her better than any cloak of invisibility. Blake strolled cheerfully through the city beside the other two, oblivious to any danger to his person.

Clay picked himself up and stared directly at Jesse, utterly unimpressed. "That the best you can do!" he taunted unwisely at Jesse. Jesse retaliated by throwing her arm out at Clay, and lightning shot from the clouds and the earth below to channel along her body and launch straight along her arm and strike out, shooting into the building and hitting Clay. It was a poorly aimed shot though, and it hit Clay in the upper left shoulder, spinning him as the electric bolt bounced off him and into the gym, bursting all the lights at once. Roxanne shrieked and covered her head with her hands as glass rained down from above, only to pause when she realized nothing was hitting her. She looked up to see the glass shards of varying size floating in place lazily. The thin black haired boy by the girl outside had his arm out, hand gloved in purple psychic energy. Roxanne had met genuine psychics before, and recognized him to be a powerful one. Clay walked over to her and offered her a hand up, which she took. After coming to her feet and glaring at the two, she realized she was in over her head for the first time in a long time as they returned her glare with three times the vehemence. "We're here for five gym battles." Jesse told Roxanne.

"I see only four people here." Roxanne asked her.

"Oh, my sister is beside you!" the black haired psychic told Roxanne. Roxanne turned to find an equally dark haired girl her age in a witches outfit lounging on the benches by the battle platform. Seeing as the there was a large group, Roxanne planned the rules to be simple.

"Each of you choose one Pokémon. We will have an all vs me battle. If even one of you beats me, all of you will receive a badge," Roxanne declared, hoping to get this over with quickly.

Roxanne released three Geodude, her Nosepass, and one Aron. The challengers released a Cubone, an Eevee, an Abra, an Absol, and a Wingull. It was the strangest combination of Pokémon Roxanne had ever seen in one room. The trainers stood behind each of their respective Pokémon. "Name and your Pokémon's names. For gym records," Roxanne demanded as her Pokémon waited patiently.

"Jesse Sheldrake. My Pokémon is Joey, the Eevee," the blond girl announced angrily. Her Eevee growled as menacingly (read: not) as it could.

"Clay Wall. This here soldier is Armand, the Cubone!" the large military haircut blond announced cheerfully. The Cubone in question, Armand, threw a salute at the mention of his name, his bone weapon raised to his helmet.

"I am Ace, this is Wingull is Nigel," the thin surly looking teen with the red scarf and the fighter pilot's helmet declared angrily. Nigel flexed his long wings and sat there, looking very relaxed.

"I'm going to need a last name," Roxanne asked Ace, pointing a pen at him from over her clipboard. Ace squirmed for a moment, eyes screwed up in concentration, as if trying to remember something.

"His last name is Ilmari. Sorry, he's taken a few too many hits to the head. Thinks he can fly!" the black haired psychic asked in a 'can you believe it' tone of voice with a roll of his eyes and sarcastic smile at the helmeted teen.

"And you two?" Roxanne asked the two dark haired teens, obvious siblings.

"I'm Blake Trinity! My Pokémon is the Abra over there. His name is Seer. My sis's name is Mindy Trinity, her Pokémon is the Absol, named Maka!" Blake announced for them, a sinister gleam in his eyes Roxanne couldn't place.

"All of you step up. Hopefully in a year or two this whole process will be done electronically by Dex communication to the door you lot just busted. We're going to set the whole battle as royal. All of you versus me in one big battle. The goal is for one of you to defeat all my Pokémon, and then all of you will receive the badges. I have my doubts however, that you can work together, so I'll just say this. Infighting is not my problem, so if you weaken yourselves, that's your loss," Roxanne announced as she stepped up to the stage. Vaguely she observed this was perhaps the strangest battle she had ever set up. Gym leaders were always for new things though, right? Five on one, five on five. Definitely never been done before.

"And go!" Roxanne cried. Her Geodude all shot forwards, Aron leading the charge. Her Nosepass sat back, reading thrown rock attacks. The five Pokémon trainers gave orders, and Roxanne could tell as she stood back that they all conflicted. Maka (the Absol) rushed forward and nearly collided with Joey, her scythe barely missed clipping the Eevee's neck. The two Pokémon snarled at each other and broke up, only to be rammed by Roxannne's Aron. Nigel took to the air quickly, and shot Water Gun attacks at the two Geodude, heavily injuring one and leaving the other only splashed. The Wingull looked up from its work just in time to take a Rock Throw to the face. Wingull hit the ground hard. The two Geodude closed in on the Wingull to finish him off and get revenge. Roxanne knew if they wanted to win, they would have to save the Wingull, the only super effective Pokémon on their team. Instead though, Aron was fighting both Joey and Maka at the same time, the dark and normal type preventing each other from fighting well. Armand took the moment to charge straight forwards and engage the relatively defenseless Nosepass in close combat where he would surely defeat it. Seet, the psychic type, sat back and slept right where he had been deployed. Roxanne's third Geodude moved to intercept Armand and stop the attacker. Roxanne smiled as she observed the chaotic battle before her.

"Send Joey and Seer to support Armand! If we take out the Nosepass, then Roxanne loses her Artillery!" Clay was yelling.

"No! Joey can take on the Geodude with Seer to save Nigel! If he can get back in the air he can take down the Geodude and stop all the close range fighting while Maka holds off the Aron by herself! Then Armand can beat down the Nosepass!" Ace cried out angrily, shoving his face into Clay's as he yelled.

"If you make Joey go somewhere else, anywhere else really, Maka can quit being held back! She can take down the Aron! It's only level twenty! Maka's got sixteen levels of experience! Your Eevee's got only twelve!" Mindy hissed out at Julia.

"Are you saying Joey can't take it! Joey is smaller and faster than Maka, he can hold off the Aron with dodging and evasion while Maka goes and beats up the Geodude!" Julia growled back.

"If the Aron can't hit Joey, he'll just attack something else! That something else is Armand!" Clay cried out angrily.

"Blake, make Seer, DO SOMETHING!" Ace roared at Blake, who only smirked and sat back, watching passively as Seer floated in the battle field, sleeping like a baby. Ace growled as he watched the Geodude grab hold of Nigel and quickly put him out of commission. Ace withdrew Nigel and glared at the others before marching up to Clay.

"Army boy! Why didn't you send Armand to save Nigel!" Ace roared in Clay's face.

"Nigel couldn't be saved without one of the other two! We have to be able to accept lost causes if we want victory!" Clay roared back. Behind his back, Armand took out the third Geodude, only to be ambushed from behind by the other two. Armand, the strongest Pokémon on the field struggled to hold the four reaching stony arms of the Geodude with his club while the Nosepass launched another sniper shot, hitting Maka in the side. Maka was thrown away, and Aron took the opportunity to charge down on the white cat, and Joey, too weak to stop him could only Sand-Attack the Aron. Thankfully this was enough, as the Aron missed as Maka rolled out of the way to slash Aron's side with a Pursuit attack. Aron went down. Both girls grudgingly thanked the others. Roxanne called back Aron. Armand finally went down as the Nosepass shot him in the back of the helmeted head with a Rock Throw, opening an opportunity for the two Geodude to capitalize on. Armand went down, but with a final desperate move, he hit the weakened Geodude with his club, and Roxanne was forced to withdraw one of her Pokémon off the field. Two Geodude and her Nosepass versus Maka, Joey, and Seer. Number wise, it seemed even. However, Nosepass was fresh, and the two Geodude were still mostly healthy. Joey hadn't taken any hits, but he was quickly tiring. Maka had taken a good hit and was limping. Seer was still fresh, but he wasn't doing anything.

"Maka! Attack the Geodude!" Mindy cried out as Julia ordered the same thing. The two girls turned to glair and yell at the other while the two Pokémon rushed headlong into the Rock Tomb of the Nosepass. On the other side of the field Roxanne sighed. The battle was as good as won already. Both the Eevee and Maka crashed headlong into the boulders pinning them around on all sides. To angry to notice, both girl continued shouting what the other should've done.

With a quick glance at the girls, Blake left out a world weary sigh and ordered under his breath to Seer, "Ally Switch," before glancing over to see both the guy's still yelling at each other, about ready to reach for different pokeballs on their belts. Seer glowed brightly for a moment before teleporting away, both Maka and Joey taking his place outside the boulders. "Seer, take care of this! I'm going to go sort out those other two!" Blake called over his shoulder as he headed back to Clay and Ace, stretching out his psychic powers to stop them from releasing other Pokémon. Beneath the Rock Tomb Seer slept on. Both Maka and Joey followed their previous orders and rushed the Geodudes' again.

Maka and Joey both raced forwards. Joey had inherited raw power from his Espeon father and Leafeon mother, but no moves to speak of. Maka however, had inherited some powerful moves from her mother and father. Acting on their previous orders, the two tag teamed the Geodude, Joey using Sand-Attack to blind them all before being grabbed by a Geodude and thrown into a Rock Throw attack from Nosepass. Joey's battered and unconscious form hit the ground and Julia withdrew him, having just turned her attention back to the fight. Maka used Sucker Punch, the powerful dark move teleporting her forward some stretch of space to slash a Geodude across the face with her scythe, making it reel back. Maka dodged the retaliation attack and the attempted Rock Throw by Nosepass, but being hit by the other Geodude's thrown punch. Maka slid back and used her most powerful move, Perish Song. Mindy smiled, confident the battle was won. Perish Song caused auditory destruction, a sweet melody that caused a Pokémon to faint. Roxanne just laughed. It took a long time to come into effect, and Maka had left herself open to attack. Nosepass's Rock Tomb slammed down onto Maka, pinning the white cat beneath. Mindy recalled her Pokémon.

"Seeing that none of your Pokémon remain on the field-" Roxanne began, but was interrupted by Mindy.

"Seer is under the first Rock Tomb. He used a move called Ally Switch which allows him to teleport with other Pokémon. It's how Maka and Joey got out," Mindy declared for Roxanne.

"And here I thought they had powered out of the back. Okay then, Geodude, pry that Rock Tomb open!" Roxanne ordered. The two Geodude moved to lift the large man sized boulders that the Nosepass had magnetically thrown. It took them a while to pry one loose, but just as they did the boulder in question shot outwards with the force of cannon shot, throwing both Geodude from the ring and driving them into the wall. "What the?" Roxanne asked as she turned her attention from her broken wall and two crushed Geodude to the cave in the pile of boulders. A pale yellow tri-fingered hand grasped at the side of a rock before the whole body of Seer came into view. Somehow or another, Seer had skipped his evolutionary second step, and emerged from the cave a full grown Alakazam. Seer rubbed his glowing red eyes sleepily as arcane blood red runes began to paint themselves over his body like he was bleeding. "Ala…" Seer grumbled as he emerged.

"Impossible! You cheated! Abra has to be traded to evolve into Alakazam! You used Ally Switch to move the Alakazam onto the field from somewhere else!" Roxanne cried as she pointed a finger shakily at Seer.

"Sorry toots! Don't own an Alakazam! Seer's always been like that. He never comes out in the same form twice in a row!" Blake told Roxanne cheerfully. Everyone else around him nodded, affirming what he said to be true. Roxanne was in a blind rage.

"Toots! You improper imbecile!" Roxanne roared as she withdrew her two Geodude.

"If it's any conciliation, I'll let you put another Pokémon of any level on the field to combat Seer." Blake told her helpfully. Everyone around him began protesting, but Roxanne only smiled coldly.

"I think I'll take you up on that!" Roxanne told him angrily as she reached into the purse at her feet to withdraw a worn red and white Pokéball. Roxanne tossed the ball forwards, and it slammed open on the stage, releasing a fully evolves battle worn Golem. "What do you think now!" Roxanne cried triumphantly as the old Golem looked around.

"If that's what you've got, maybe you should let out another one!" Blake told her helpfully again. Roxanne screamed an attack order in anger.

Clay dexed the Golem to be level fourty. "Well, Seer is doomed." Ace summed up succinctly.

"Hah, no. Roxanne could have an army and Seer would just go back to sleep." Blake announced as Seer did just that, leaning back on the rock and sitting cross-legged as he floated in the air, both eyes shut tight as he began to snore. Right before the Golem hit Seer the red runes on Seer's body flashed a horrible red and the Golem exploded. Unlike the attacking move, there was no large Pokémon self detonation that would only make them pass out. Seer had really just killed the Golem. Everyone present took a moment to get over their shock before Seer threw out an arm, spoon in hand and the Nosepass was thrown violently from the ring.

"Seer, bring him back from wherever you sent him." Blake called out firmly. Seer opened an eye and let out a 'harumph' before waving a hand airily and the Golem they had just been fighting appeared as it had been, looking very confused as its reptilian face took in its location. Seer then threw him from the ring as well.

"Didn't he kill him? Not that I'm complaining," Roxanne asked shakily as she withdrew her Pokémon and reached for five badges. Somehow this had escalated from a childish brawl to a full on league quality battle in a matter of minutes.

"Nah. He probably would have. In fact, I'm sure he did. But I give him orders, and while he doesn't always follow them, he makes sure to do it if's theatrical. He's a drama king. That's probably the same Golem just brought forwards in time or something." Blake told her cheerfully as he withdrew Seer from the battlefield. Roxanne looked on, trying to decipher and answer from Blake's answer as she handed out the five badges, all of which were taken by their four angry recipients and one cheerful winner.


End file.
